Week in Review—South Bend

U.S. Attorney’s Office
April 26, 2013

Northern District of Indiana(219) 937-5500

SOUTH BEND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in federal court:

Pleas:

Robert Pulliam, 52, of New Carlisle, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of manufacturing marijuana. Magistrate Nuechterlein is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 10 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Sentencing has been set for July 31, 2013. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

Dale Hite, 27, of Plymouth, Indiana, pled guilty before Magistrate Judge Christopher Nuechterlein to the felony offense of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Magistrate Nuechterlein is recommending that the district court accept the tendered guilty plea. Parties have 10 days in which to object to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Sentencing has been set for July 25, 2013. This charge was filed as a result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Schaffer.

If convicted in court, any specific sentence to be imposed will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Disposition:

Shawn Lunsford, 35, of Peru, Indiana, was sentenced by District Judge Jon DeGuilio to 63 months’ imprisonment and 25 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession of child pornography. Based on an ongoing investigation, agents from the FBI Cybercrimes Unit and other affiliated agencies executed a search warrant at Lunsford’s residence in order to search any computers that were found in the home for the presence of child pornography. Lunsford was found to be in possession of approximately 7,073 images, approximately 1,000 of which were prepubescent minors. This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Maciejczyk.